The International Criminal Court is preparing to indict Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several other Israeli government officials and charge them with "genocide."
Republicans in the House and Senate are readying sanctions against ICC members and the organization if they go ahead with the indictments.
“Target Israel, and we will target you,” the senators, led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), warned in the letter. “Such actions are illegitimate and lack legal basis, and, if carried out, will result in severe sanctions against you and your institution.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) confirmed that the legislation was moving through the House as well.
"We want to emphasize to him (ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan) that going down this road of arrest warrants is a really bad idea and it's going to blow up the relationship," he said.
If Israel were actually engaging in "genocide," there would be a lot more than 33,000 civilians dead (according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health). Genocide is the deliberate targeting of people from a specific group. There has been no "targeting" of Palestinian civilians. If there were, there would be ten times the number of Palestinians dead in Gaza.
Israel sees them as victims of Hamas and their deaths a tragic byproduct of Hamas's cowardice using them as human shields and their dead bodies as propaganda weapons. The ICC sees them as a way to regain lost credibility after heavy criticism from some in the international community that the criminal court only targets African countries. Going after the Jews is an easy way to show the world that they don't only target the murderous leaders in Africa.
Squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) gave a predictable response to the current Israeli incursion into Rafah.
“It’s no coincidence that immediately after our government sent the Israeli apartheid regime over $14 billion with absolutely no conditions on upholding human rights, Netanyahu began a ground invasion of Rafah to continue the genocide of Palestinians — with ammunition and bombs paid for by our tax dollars,” she said. “Over 1.5 million Palestinian civilians, including over 600,000 children, are trapped in Rafah, living in makeshift tents, without food, clean water, sanitation, medicine, or any form of shelter.”
The House censured Tlaib last year for her antisemitic comments. She called out some of those who voted for her censure.
“Do not be misled, they gave their consent for these atrocities, and our country is actively participating in genocide,” Tlaib said. “For months, Netanyahu made his intent to invade Rafah clear, yet the majority of my colleagues and President Biden sent more weapons to enable the massacre.”
So the ICC has at least one member of Congress willing to carry its water to rehabilitate its image.
Needless to say, the ICC doesn't like being called out for its hypocrisy. Khan said on Friday that while the ICC “welcomes open communication” with government officials and non-governmental bodies alike, it will only engage in such dialogue so long as it is “consistent with its mandate under the Rome Statute to act independently and impartially.”
“That independence and impartiality are undermined, however, when individuals threaten to retaliate… should the office, in fulfillment of its mandate, make decisions about investigations or cases falling within its jurisdiction,” he added. Khan also said that “all attempts to impede, intimidate, or improperly influence its officials cease immediately.”
In their letter to the ICC, the senators charged that the ICC was "attempting to punish Israel for taking legitimate actions of self-defense against their Iranian-backed aggressors. In fact, in your own words, you witnessed ‘scenes of calculated cruelty’ conducted by Hamas in Israel following the October 7 attacks.”
The ICC's despicable self-aggrandizement against Israel needs to be called out. Any efforts to arrest Israeli officials who may be indicted for their actions in defending their country and people from the genocidal attacks by Hamas should be denounced in the most severe terms.
